^she does look really different huh? maybe it's the hair. i wouldn't have recognized her either if her name wasn't mentioned.

천국보다 낯선 (Stranger Than Paradise)월화드라마 - Mon/Tue Drama [follows 101번째 프로포즈 (The 101st Proposal)]2006/07/31~ [Airs Every Mon/Tue Night on SBS]PD: COLDKim Jong-HyeokMmmmh... I'd say we're in problematic territory. On one hand, the Dramas he was responsible for, like 봄날 (Spring Days) and 순수의 시대 (The Age of Innocence) failed for reasons other than production values (always SBS' forte). Actually, you could say those were the only bearable points of those shows, brought down by bad writing and/or acting; on the other, he never really did anything to raise above the material he was given. We'll have to wait and see, whether he'll silently follow the usual SBS mantra (good looking stuff first, and we'll worry about the rest later. Maybe) or add some personal touch.WRITER: COLDJo Jung-HwaAgain, not too promising. At least one positive is that she worked with Kim already, in the 2004 SBS Drama 햇빛 쏟아지다 (Sunlight Pours Down), so they know each other's working style, and that should help a little. Problem is, she hasn't written anything special either, from the failed melodrama 화성으로 간 사나이 (A Letter From Mars) to the weakest of the brilliant 묻지마 패밀리 (No Comment)'s three parts.CAST: HOTEom Tae-Woong, Lee Sung-Jae, Kim Min-Jung, Kim Bin-Woo, Son Byung-Ho, Kim Hae-SookKim Bin-Woo's acting is quite wretched, but who cares: Eom Tae-Woong, the best 'new face' (even though he's been with us since the late 90s) in ages, who after his stunning performance in 부활 (Rebirth) has become one of the most sought after actors in Chungmuro; Lee Sung-Jae, who returns to TV for the first time since Noh Hee-Kyung's 1998 Drama 거짓말 (Lies), and despite suffering from bad career choices pretty often, can be excellent when in the right context; and last but not least, young Kim Min-Jung, one of the most talented young actresses in the business, last seen in 음란서생 (Forbidden Quest). It doesn't matter if the story will go to Andromeda like most other SBS shows, the top trio might save the show anyway. And of course anything Son Byung-Ho touches turns into gold, I still watch that ugly mess 위대한 유산 (Kindergarten Love) for a few moments of his acting genius.OUTLINE: COLDPromising film-like production values, this show tells the story of an adopted lawyer from Canada (Lee Sung-Jae), a Korean singer dreaming of escaping abroad (Kim Min-Jung) and her manager (Eom Tae-Woong). Little problem? You guessed it, the two boys are lost brothers, and they love the same woman. Whooo... feel the tension. That is, feel how hard the experienced crew will have to work to make such a trite outline look shiny and fresh.WEATHER: One one hand we'll probably have the best non-Sageuk production values of the year and a top notch cast. On the other a trite storyline and possibly vanilla script. Might be another 프라하의 연인 (Lovers in Prague), or the actors might actually save the day and make this watchable.

I can't wait to see this!! LEE SUNG JAE! Finally in a drama! I always saw him in movies, and was wondering when he'd come back to the small screen ^^ Definitely watching this now with the three confirmed leads!

Latest Development on the drama "Stranger than Paradise" and Greetings from UHMFORCE!

(1) Uhm TaeWoong will come back to TV screen as a rebellious young man brimming with deep pathos. It is in a Mon~Tue drama 'Stranger than Paradise' to be put on the air by SBS the end of June that he will figure.

‘Stranger than Paradise', sixteen episodes of a human melo drama will tell a story that two men who have a same mother having Alzheimer's disease but different fathers finally become a genuine brother to each other under the name of family ties through confliction and reconciliation between them.

In this drama, Uhm TaeWoong will take the role of Gang SanHo whose father is a poor fisherman missing after getting on a deep sea fishery vessel. SanHo is a tough dissolute man feeling guilty of his lost father and taking a subtle hostile toward his mother.

SanHo is a person full of strong pathos,UhmTaeWoong's characteristic one. His outappearance looks like a crooked mind man being always defiant but deep in his heart he has warm affection for his mother and sister. It seems to be a character of multiple natures enriching all of Uhm TaeWoong's charms shown as Yoon SungMo in 'Wolf' interrupted early this year by an accident, as HyongChul in movie 'Birth of Family' and as Byon Hak Do in 'Chun Hyiang'.

UhmForce's trade mark, the image of innocence and shyness slightly hidden by his tough appearance is expected to come to life again in the character of Gang SanHo. Sim entertainment gave a tip "you may look forward to his fashionable costumes in this drama besides his intense and passionate performance.Viewers are sure to be attracted to UhmForce's new image to be made by the coordination very different from the past ones."

He is about to stay in Canada from June 21~30 for location.He will share the location with actor Lee SungJae and actress Kim MinJung.

(2)Uhm TaeWoong,Kim MInJung and Lee SungJae mainly having played on movie screen will figure themselves in a drama soon.

Having finished casting performers for the lead roles, SBS Mon~Tue mini series 'Stranger than paradise' to be scheduled to go on the air from July 31st is all set to start shooting.

Uhm TaeWoong lately spotlighted in TV dramas and Lee sung Jae well known as a magnificent actor through a few movies like 'Holiday' and 'Daisy' and Kim MinJung, a heroine of movie 'a Lustful Scholar' gather around for this movie.

This drama is attracting a lot of interest of viewers as it is known that director Kim Jong Hyok who produced dramas like 'the age of innocence' ,'the sun shines down' and 'a spring day' works in cooperation with TrueWin, the mother company of PopCorn Film to make a drama like a movie.

In addition, charateristic actor Son ByongHo and actress Kim HaeSook and Kim BinWoo will join in this drama as main supporting roles.

In this drama, Lee SungJae, a lawyer who is an adopted son in a Canadian foster home, meets Kim MinJung, a top singer dreaming of deviation from a life of singer and comes to know that her manager Uhm TaeWoong is his younger brother whose mother is also his. It is a drama that tells a crossed destiny among a woman and two brothers being troubled between brotherhood and love.

(3)Actress Kim BinWoo who made her debut as a super model will comes back to TV screen with Uhmforce Uhm TaeWoong in a half and one year. She was cast as Gi EunSoo of SBS Mon~Tue mini series 'Stranger than Paradise' that Uhm TaeWoong, Lee SungJae and Kim MinJung take the lead roles and will be broadcasted from July 31st. She will figure in the drama in a half and one year after the broadcast of KBS drama ' My precious child' she acted came to an end in Feb. last year.

Gi EunSoo,who runs a coffee shop on the first floor of a building owned by her father, happens to meet Uhm TaeWoong, the manager of a top singer at an examination hall for driver's license and makes friend with him soon.

In this drama, Lee SungJae, a lawyer who is an adopted son in a Canadian foster home, meets Kim MinJung, a top singer dreaming of deviation from a life of singer and comes to know that her manager Uhm TaeWoong is his younger brother whose mother is also his.

(4) Tae Woong's greeting on June 14th

Once again I stand on the starting point.

I hoped I would be a bit composed this time....I would feel certain too....But I am not relaxed yet,, I am not also confident. Hence, I think I have to make a challenge again....

Now, shooting will start soon, I am excited and worried at the same time a lot...but I am happy to have a work to keep on doing.

SanHo, is my new pal I have to figure in the drama,...a little tough and aweful character for me...but he has such a pain that I can share in my mind.

ㅎㅎㅎ I remember my mother ran a restaurant long ago, the name of which was SanHo. ㅎㅎㅎ I wish it would be a successful drama. I really hope !!And I am praying it will be completed well without any accident !!

Thank you always, for your warm affection and assistance.

Credit to BILL at UHMSKY for the translation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May our FORCE be with you Uhm Tae Woong Ssi....and Wishing all the cast and production team ALL THE BEST while filming in Canada and in Korea. Pray for the safety of everyone and May this production turn out successfully ~~ smooth sailing ---- "free of any accident and hassle"!....

There was a happenning that Uhm TaeWoong and Lee SungJae was taken to be a gay couple in Canada. Futhermore,they were even invited to a gay festival by gay people misunderstanding that they were also a gay couple due to their very close appearance during shooting the SBS drama 'Stranger than Paradise' in Vancouver.

They joined in the location taking place in Vancouver,Canada last June,23rd. The shooting is for touching scenes that Lee sung Jae who has grown up as an adopted son in a Canadian foster home by chance meet with his younger brother for the first time in 20years.

Since having arrived there,they have always gone about together completely to prepare impressive scenes of the drama that two brothers would come across. However, being there accidently the biggest gay festival in the world called as ' the Week of Pride Gay', gay peoples are now overflowing in the streets,hotels and everywhere.

As they have always come and gone together on good terms from the hotel to the shooting place, Uhm TaeWoong and Lee SungJae could not have avoided that kind of misunderstanding from gay people.Moreover,being considered as a couple who came from Korea to attend the festival, they were invited to dancing parties and the gay street parade.

A concerned person of 'Stranger than paradise' team in Vancouver said "it happened to be the beginning day of the gay event when we started shooting. While we checked in the hotel, the receptionests also cast their suspicious eyes on us and there were knowing looks especially for members of the staff who friendly behaved each other. More than anyone, Uhm TaeWoong, who being cast as the manager of an entertainer in the drama, put on clothes and had hairstyle very similar to those of gay people there, was assumed to be the same kind of person by the gay people. Actually many of attendees in the gala gave Uhm TaeWoong and Lee SungJae joyous welcome in the streets."

'Stranger than Paradise' shooting team made it a rule for two men alone never to go around together in an effort to avoid such a misunderstanding.

Credit to BILL at UHMSKY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OMO! UTW being mistaken as a gay and I think his outfit and behaviour could be the main reasons the Canadian gay group mistook his identity. Can't wait to see how he was being dressed as the manager of an entertainer... somehow I can visualize his new image!

ahhah! that's so funny! They probably aren't aware of the fact that the way many Korean celebs dress (how UTW was probably dressed to appear as an entertainment manager) is the same way gay men in North America dress when they go out on the town!

Too bad they seem to feel insulted by this, though, that they made it a rule not to go out together in public alone.

ahhah! that's so funny! They probably aren't aware of the fact that the way many Korean celebs dress (how UTW was probably dressed to appear as an entertainment manager) is the same way gay men in North America dress when they go out on the town!

Too bad they seem to feel insulted by this, though, that they made it a rule not to go out together in public alone.

That is the most hilarious thing that ive heard in a very long time. One must admit that all asian entertainers, especially the male ones, dress like fruit tarts. Of course it doesnt help that they are very hands on in showing their comraderie.

I mean some of these males stars dress better than the females. Scary to say the least. I must say im not a big fan of the metro look on some of these guys but a trend is a trend and hope to see it gone very soon.

On another note, i must watch this drama. Im very excited by the cast alone rather than the script or the plotline. I think we can all say we've seen this rendition about a thousand times over. Im thinking the cast will save it rather than the script. I can imagine the cheesy lines now but hopefully the cast can make something of it. A talented one at that so im not complaining.

ahhah! that's so funny! They probably aren't aware of the fact that the way many Korean celebs dress (how UTW was probably dressed to appear as an entertainment manager) is the same way gay men in North America dress when they go out on the town!

Too bad they seem to feel insulted by this, though, that they made it a rule not to go out together in public alone.

Hey, Mar....you are absolutely right! It didn't register in my mind when I first read the posting at Uhmsky .....until you mentioned on the part on how Korean celebs dressed...and sometimes in colorful floral design and even in their smart suit they adorn accessories too (eg...a pin across the tie).

There's a new Taiwanese drama currently airing in my country with a storyline on a group of guys working in a hair salon and you know what...these guys dressed exactly as how the western would probably mistook them as gay chingu.... Maybe, Asian gays are still very reserved as compared to their counterparts in the West..

That is the most hilarious thing that ive heard in a very long time. One must admit that all asian entertainers, especially the male ones, dress like fruit tarts. Of course it doesnt help that they are very hands on in showing their comraderie.

I mean some of these males stars dress better than the females. Scary to say the least. I must say im not a big fan of the metro look on some of these guys but a trend is a trend and hope to see it gone very soon.

On another note, i must watch this drama. Im very excited by the cast alone rather than the script or the plotline. I think we can all say we've seen this rendition about a thousand times over. Im thinking the cast will save it rather than the script. I can imagine the cheesy lines now but hopefully the cast can make something of it. A talented one at that so im not complaining.

I agree withyou bellaangel012 and some how, I got a feeling that this drama will be something different from the K-love story we often watched. Perhaps, I am a bit biased in saying that but look, the casting of these actors speak volume and of course the PD is one whom I believe is very talented too!! Fighting Everyone....

Actor uhm TaeWoong, Lee SungJae and actress Kim MinJung will play lead characters who get involved in a triangular love affair in SBS Mon~Tue mini series drama 'Stranger than Paradise' planned to go on the air July end.

Lee SungJae coming back to TV screen in eight years acts the role of a person who was a failure as a lawyer after growing up as an adopted child in Canada but now is a sales man of an insurance company in Korea. He casually meets with Kim MinJUNG, a popular singer and her manager Uhm TaeWoong who calls himself Lee SungJae's younger brother. Lee SungJae is faced with himself being troubled between love and brotherhood.

"Stranger than Paradise' started shooting at the location in Canada (end of June).

Hmmm … LSJ is a failure as a lawyer in Canada and moves to Korea to sell insurance? That sounds unlikely to me! I think Korean drama writers need to do a little more research on characters who supposedly grow up in the Americas (see how surprised they were for being mistaken as gay in Canada? They don't seem to be very aware of the culture over here!)

I'm not the first person to note this, but it seems that frequently Korean dramas like to portray adoptees as miserable failures, ESPECIALLY those Asians raised in North America. I think this is incredibly sad, and as an adoptee myself, it's kind of annoying and insulting!

HOWEVER, on another note, interesting when you consider that UTW played a person who was adopted by strangers in his last drama!

'Stranger than Paradise' to start its broadcasting from the end of July

TV talent Kim MinJung will show how well she sings songs in a drama.She took the role of You HeeRan, a popular singer in new SBS Mon~Tue drama 'Stranger than Paradise'.

She,who has been to Canada for 10 days for location and returned last July 1st, is now eager to practice singing to meet the role of a top singer in the drama.A person of the drama team said "not being a real singer, she thought of the way of lip sync at first but in the end she decided to sing songs herself because she was anxious to do so and also it was proved that she sang songs well." She is about to sing two songs in this drama that are expected to be recorded in the OST.

Kim MinJung is going to play her melo performance in a love triangle between her manager Kang SanHo(UTW) and Noh YoonJae(LSJ),an elite lawyer who has hidden the sorrowful memory of an adopted child.As both of them(UTW/LSJ) are more or less 10years older than her, she intends to portray a mature girl skillfully.

From what Kim MinJung,a heroine of movie 'Lustful scholar', Lee SungJae of 'Holiday' and Uhm TaeWoong of 'Birth of Family' come back to home cinema with this drama after a long time of their energetic activities on movie screen, 'Stranger than Paradise' is awaking public interest. PD Kim JongHyok who has produced sensual dramas like 'a spring day' and 'the sun shines down' is the director of this drama. 'Stranger than Paradise' under filming now with the location in Canada taken place in last month is scheduled to start its broadcasting following '101st propose' from July 31st.

Ooh!! I can't wait for this ^^ I love Uhm Tae Woong ^^ He's a great actor =] As for the other main lead..I've never seen him And for the lead actress, Kim Min Jung, yep. I approve cause I liked her from Fashion 70's